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By Jeffrey Schaeffer and Sylvie Corbet

The Associated Press

PARIS 鈥� The reconstruction of聽Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris聽is going fast enough to allow it to reopen to visitors and faithful at the end of 2024, less than six years after a fire ravaged its roof, French officials said Monday.

The cathedral鈥檚 iconic spire, which聽collapsed in the blaze, will gradually start reappearing above the monument this year, according to the army general in charge of the colossal project, Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin.

鈥淭he return of the spire in Paris鈥� sky will in my opinion be the symbol that we are winning the battle of Notre Dame,鈥� he told the Associated Press.

The reconstruction itself started last year, after more than two years of work to make the monument stable and secure enough for artisans to start rebuilding it.

Authorities have chosen to rebuild the 12th century monument, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, the way it was before. That includes聽recreating the 315-foot-high spire聽added in the 19th century by architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.

Meanwhile, an exhibition called 鈥淣otre-Dame de Paris: at the heart of the construction site鈥� opened to visitors on Tuesday in an underground facility in front of the cathedral. Accessible for free, it highlights ongoing operations at the site as well as workers鈥� expertise and skills. It also features some remains from the fire and works of art from the cathedral.

The cathedral will reopen in December 2024, Georgelin said, in line with the goal set by President Emmanuel Macron just after the fire 鈥� yet too late for the聽Paris Olympic Games scheduled to take place in summer聽next year.

鈥淢y job is to be ready to open this cathedral in 2024 鈥� and we will do it,鈥� Georgelin said. 鈥淲e are fighting every day for that and we are on a good path.鈥�

This 鈥渕eans that the archbishop of the capital will be in a capacity again to celebrate the Catholic liturgy in his cathedral鈥� and the monument will also 鈥渂e open for tourists to visit,鈥� he said.

Culture Minister Rima Abdul-Malak told the AP that the renovation will not be finished when the cathedral reopens.

鈥淭here will still be some renovation work going on in 2025,鈥� she stressed.

Meanwhile, the new exhibition near the cathedral will allow visitors, including those coming for the Olympics, 鈥渢o live what could be this experience of visiting Notre Dame in a brand-new way,鈥� she said. In addition to the free visit, a virtual reality show will allow paying visitors to dive into the history of the cathedral. 鈥淭hat will help also tourism in Paris,鈥� she added.

Every day in the capital and across the country, approximately 1,000 people work to rebuild Notre Dame, Georgelin said.

鈥淭he biggest challenge is to comply precisely every day to the planning we have done,鈥� he stressed. 鈥淲e have a lot of different works to achieve: the framework, the painting, the stones, the vault, the organ, the stained glass and so on.鈥�

Philippe Jost, managing director of the government agency overseeing the reconstruction, noted that the result 鈥渨ill be faithful to the original architecture鈥� both because 鈥渨e are sticking to the vanished shapes of the cathedral鈥� and because 鈥渨e are also sticking to the materials and construction methods鈥� of medieval times.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 do concrete vaults that look like stone; we do stone vaults that we rebuild as they were built in the Middle Ages,鈥� Jost said, adding that the roof framework will also be made from oak like it was initially.

Editor鈥檚 note: AP journalist Alexander Turnbull contributed to the story.